SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2019

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Words of Greeting: Jeremiah 17:5-8

One: This is what the Lord says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.

All: But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

This prayer of confession was written long enough ago to have the "Thee" and "Thou" style of language - not unlike the King James Bible... but it is not near as old as the promise of redemption found in Scripture that assures us of our pardon.  Let us pray together our prayer of confession...

Unison Prayer of Confession

Forgive us, our Father, for our sins against thee: our contentment with ourselves and disregard of thy better ways; our refusals of our call, and willful disobedience to the heavenly missions given us; the timidity which holds us back from seeking thee and finding thee; our lack of reverence before thee and before the sacred things of life which reveal thee to us. Teach us to hate our sins and to love righteousness; help us to walk uprightly before thee in the power of thy Spirit. 

(Silent Prayer and Reflection)

Assurance of Pardon: Ephesians 2:1-5

One: "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

All: All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

One: But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved."

Scripture Reading                                       Zephaniah 1:10-18

The Minor Prophets: ZEPHANIAH    "The Day of the Lord"          

Song  "When the Night is Falling"        

Holy Communion

Benediction: Jeremiah 31:31-37

31"The time is coming," declares the

Lord, "when I will make a new covenant

with the house of Israel and with the

house of Judah.

32It will not be like the covenant I made

with their forefathers when I took them

by the hand to lead them out of Egypt,

because they broke my covenant,

though I was a husband to them, "

declares the Lord.

33"This is the covenant I will make with

the house of Israel after that time,"

declares the Lord. "I will put my law in

their minds and write it on their hearts. I

will be their God, and they will be my people.

34No longer will a man teach his

neighbor, or a man his brother, saying,

'Know the Lord,' because they will all

know me, from the least of them to the

greatest," declares the Lord. "For I will

forgive their wickedness and will

remember their sins no more."

35This is what the Lord says, he who

appoints the sun to shine by day, who

decrees the moon and stars to shine by

night, who stirs up the sea so that its

waves roar- the Lord Almighty is his name:

36"Only if these decrees vanish from my

sight," declares the Lord, "will the

descendants of Israel ever cease to be

a nation before me."

37This is what the Lord says: "Only if the

heavens above can be measured and

the foundations of the earth below be

searched out will I reject all the

descendants of Israel because of all

they have done," declares the Lord.